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Michael Schorr

Autonomous University of Baja California

Michael Schorr is a Professor and Doctor Honoris Causa at the Institute of Engineering of the University of Baja California in Mexico, and a member of the Mexican National System of Investigators, Level II. He was granted the B.Sc. degree in Chemistry and the M.Sc. degree in Materials Engineering, both by the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and, during the period of 1986-2004, served as Editor of the Corrosion Reviews journal. He was actively involved in the development of desalination processes in Israel, focusing particularly on the selection and testing of corrosion-resistant materials required for fabrication of the pertinent equipment and plants. Professor Schorr has fifty years of experience in controlling environmental and industrial corrosion in Latin America, Europe, USA, South Africa and Israel. He authored and co-authored 240 scientific and technical publications on corrosion science, engineering and technology, as well as several books in English, Spanish and Hebrew.

2books edited

5chapters authored

Latest work with IntechOpen by Michael Schorr

The book comprises 14 chapters covering all the issues related to water desalination. These chapters emphasize the relationship between problems encountered with the use of feed water, the processes developed to address them, the operation of the required plants and solutions actually implemented. This compendium will assist designers, engineers and investigators to select the process and plant configuration that are most appropriate for the particular feed water to be used, for the geographic region considered, as well as for the characteristics required of the treated water produced. This survey offers a comprehensive, hierarchical and logical assessment of the entire desalination industry. It starts with the worldwide scarcity of water and energy, continues with the thermal - and membrane-based processes and, finally, presents the design and operation of large and small desalination plants. As such, it covers all the scientific, technological and economical aspects of this critical industry, not disregarding its environmental and social points of view. One of InTech's books has received widespread praise across a number of key publications. Desalination, Trends and Technologies (Ed. Schorr, M. 2011) has been reviewed in Corrosion Engineering, Science & Technology – the official magazine for the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining, and Taylor & Francis's Desalination Publications. Praised for its “multi-faceted content [which] contributes to enrich it,” and described as “an essential companion...[that] enables the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the desalination industry,” this book is testament to the quality improvements we have been striving towards over the last twelve months.

Phosphoric acid (PA) is an important industrial chemical used as an intermediate in the fertilizer industry, for metal surface treatment in the metallurgical industry and as an additive in the food industry. The PA industry is spread out worldwide in Europe, Asia and America, including countries that operate phosphate rock (PR) mines and produce PA, phosphatic fertilizers and phosphate-based products.

Corrosion is a pernicious phenomenon that appears in engineering materials, infrastructure assets, and industrial equipment exposed to the atmosphere, water, and soil. The aim of this chapter is to produce a body of knowledge on the theory and practice of corrosion inhibition so it can be used in the selection of corrosion inhibitors, to prevent and/or minimize corrosion in natural environments and industrial facilities. Corrosion inhibitors are employed in different forms such as emitters, pellets, powders, films, paints, aerosols, and aqueous and solvent solutions, depending on their chemical composition: organic or inorganic. They are impregnated on papers or plastics; closed in pouches and sachets; or added to coatings and paints to form a barrier against the attack of corrosive agents. They are employed in many industries: automotive, offshore/onshore, water, military, marine, manufacture, oil and gas, electronics, and concrete structures. A special group of corrosion inhibitors are extracted from vegetables or derived from industrial vegetable wastes, which are related to the advanced field of “Green Chemistry.” The use of vapor corrosion inhibitors (VCI) has expanded rapidly in the last decades, and is frequently mentioned in the relevant literature, in particular in professional congresses and conferences, organized by international and national corrosion associations.

Every nation needs the infrastructure to perform all kind of activities related to the improvement and service of the society. Transportation system became part of the infrastructure due its connection between two destinations, using maritime, land, or aerial methods, creating a link for social and economic activity. Bridges are widely used to cross rivers, valleys, and roads, providing a passage with other parts of the land since ancient times to modernity. Each structure has different requirements to cover, such span clearage, traffic flow, geometry and characteristics of the place to build; therefore, a great variety of bridges can be developed. Common materials used on construction are structural steel, reinforced concrete, pre-stressed concrete, or post-tensioned concrete; depending on the structural behavior of each type of bridge, there will be a maximum clear span to cover, which depends directly on the project’s budget. There are a variety of loads and environmental conditions that the new and existing structure needs to support effectively, including dead load, traffic, rain, wind, flood, and seismic events, using effective structural design process and techniques; on the other hand, there are long-term deterioration process, such as corrosion, wear, and fatigue, which should be considered on the maintenance process, avoiding additional costs, several damages, and catastrophic failures. Prevention and control of degradation process is achieved by effective maintenance methods applying protection technology such as paints, coating and cathodic protection. The purpose of this chapter is to show a brief review of ancient and modern bridges, including the process of design, material selection, construction, and maintenance.